Egg-container.



F, KRUNENBERGER,

EGG CONTAINER.

APPLQCAHUN min MAR. r9u3.

2 SHETSHSHET I.

Anw;

MQ Y 1.,;'1 img/www I'N I 15N TOR fforneys F. KRUNENBERGR,

EGG CONTAINER.

APPLICATION man MAR. s. 1513,

1 ,209,649. Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

ZSHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES.- INVENTOR ,ge/y. j@ @im M A ttomeys 'UNITED sTATs PATENT FERDINAND KRONENDERGER, F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO FRIQDEBJKJ213.y

OF ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

' nee-coNTAINER.

CLARK,

Patented Dee.' '19, 1916.

Application led March 8, .1913. Serial No. 752,81.

To n?! whom. if 'may concern Y Bc it known that l, FERDINAND KRONEN- mencion, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of 1 Queens, county of Queens, and State of i breakage.

New York`l have invented :i certain new and useful 'llggtfontairen of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to egg crates, and

4the object of the invention is to enable eggs y manner that the respective end portions of tion.

the eggs are in rictional contact with said members, but n salient feature of the invention is that means :ire provided for clamping said members upon or again t the end portions of the eggs composingthe layer Vwhereby some considerable' pressure is applied to the. eggs, the line of such pressure or stress being in the direction of the length of the eggs. The eggs are thus retained securely between the members so that they cannot .more loosely and break when the package is handled roughly, and vat the same time the eggs are held in such man'ner, to

Wit, under pressure applied in the direction of the greatest resistance of their shells, that the eggs themselves are not liable to be'- come` broken even though the package itself should. become damaged during transporta- `In the accompanying drawings I have ,illustrated different vpractical embodiments fof the invention, but the constructii'ms` shown therein are to be understood as illus` trative,ronly, and not as defining the limits 'ofthe invention.

Figure ljis. a transverse, section through vanweg'g carrier embodying 'the preferred form of my invention.^ Fig. 2 is a fragmental; plan thereoffthe cover of the recep tnclsin which the 'eggcarrying unit 1s positioned, being removed."` Fig. is n lungiN tudinal section of' a certain tie ber which may b`e"`employed to hold the clamping 1nem hers of the egg carrier in fixed position relative to one another. Figs. 4j 5'; 6, Hand 8; and 9 and 10 are views illustrating modified forms of the invention.; Fig. 11 isa detail of a modified self-lookin tie bnri=which I sometimes prefer to emp oy. Fig. '12 is a Vpartial plan view of the clamping plate in another embodiment of the present 'invention, and Figs. 13'- and 14 are a fra nental plan and transverse section of a flirt er embodiment thereof. i

In said fdrawings', findparticularly in Figs. 1 and 2, A designates a container or receptacle having a suitable cover Bt @and I) denote two complementary i ripping plates. The@ gripping members, D, are Aformed with depressions c, d, respectively, and are practicall)7 the same'in allfessentinl particulars. Tie bars E are provided for tliemurpose of forcing the plates toward one another so that they Will tightly grip the opposite ends of eggs which have been previously positioned with their ends in the aforesaidldepressions c, d. In Fig. 3, a detail ofjrthe tic bars delineated in Figs. 1 and 2,*i's'sh`wwn.

Fora detachable connection,` this tien is admirably adapted to this use, as-itshead inclosing member e, and nut portion e', `toi-m points of support For the egg holding unit Within its receptacle or container. flu riig. 1, Where a. single unit is shown as contained in a container, these points of support ob-4 viate any change of the clamping plates coming intocontact with the top ortbottour of said container. which would be apt to re` sult in the breakage of therggs.` jIt is ob vious that a plurality of units mayibe contained, ontop' of one anotheriuthe 'same receptacle,'in which case theselsup'porting points will keepthe adjacent units from con-v tacting with one another. It will be'-under stood/however, that, vWhile the aforesaid tie bar performs its functionsfwithhighfeiciency, a threaded rod with nuts,"a1ci ordinary bolt, or :my other eqnivalentfmeens may be employed; e. g., see-Fig.; 5M In practice, the eggs are schon-rend in 4their individuel seats nl', in thebottmn ilate I)` the top plate C is then placedlinjuxtaposition over the bottom member, i'afnd the tie bars are then putin placeinudtightened to exert pressure on theplates und censo them to grip the eggs. The diferenf in size of the eggs is compensated for by the resiliency of the plates, and this is augmented by cutting away portions thereof, as at c', a, thereby allowmg the .d=i'erent portions of said plate to better ada `ttl1emselves to the sizes of the eggs. Tlhe pres ent invention is, however, not limited to the use of tie bars for exerting pressure at or near the ends of the eg In Fig. 4, a construction is shown, w erein egg gripping members F, (l, formed with depressed seats for the individual reception of eggs, are provided around their peripheries with upturned flanV es, f and g, respectively, which extend at right angles to the planes of their respectife members. The grippin plates, thus formed, are so placed 1n the c osure. or receptacle A', in which they are to be shipped, that the flange g, of bottom grip ping member G, will rest on the bottom of said receptacle, and, when the eggs are in proper position in their individua seats in the top and bottom members, the llange f, of the top member, will project slightly above the top of the box. It is thus obvious that, when the cover B is forced down and secured in place, it will, in, turn, exert force on the flange f of the upper plate, which, being somewhat resilient, will simultaneously place all the eggs in the unit under pressure.

It will be noted that, in Eigs. 4 and 5, the crowns of the depressed egg seats c', al', are cut out so that eggs are gripped over the arches at their o iposite ends. This ipping over the arch is a modification o my invention, and it will-be understood that` in the various constructions illustrated in the drawings, the individual egg seatsmay have either solid or apertured crowns.

A modified form or application of my' invention is disclosed in Figs. 6 and 7, in which the blanks, from which two com lementary clamping members, Il and I, up-

' per and lower, respectively) are formed, are

shown.' Each of these blanks comprise a central longitudinal portion running the complete length thereof, and forming the backbone of the blank, and a plurality of laterally extending tongues, h, i, near theV end of which, and in alinement with one another, are provided depressed seats It', i'. The tongues on either side of the backbone are alternately lona,r and short on one side thereof, and vire versa on the other side. Moreover', the portion .l of each of the longer tongues, which extends beyond tht` shorter ones, is adapted to be bent up, as on'the dotted line j, whereby an intermittent flange is formed along both longi tudinal ed of each of the clamping members I. It will, moreover, be understood that the flange on the upper clamping member, H, extends upwardly therefrom, and-lthat the Bange on the lower clamping member, I, extends downwardly therefrom.

In use, the eggs to be carrredare adapted to be placed on end in the depressed seats t, i', of the upper and lower members H, and I, res iectively, and said members are then forced together by suitable means, such as the tie barsK, which extend throu h the apertures lc, is', in the backbones o Said members. Fig. 8 shows a single unit of the type just described, illustrating how, when packed in a receptacle, the intermittent flanges preclude the rattling of the unit within its receptacle, which (would result in breakage of the eggs. Y

The material ,from which the clamping members are" stamped, is quite thin so as to be as light as possible, and the requisite strength and stiffness are preferably provided by corrugating saidmeubers transversely thereof, between each ipair of egg seats, as at h2, i".

Aside from the function of adding stiffness` to the clamping members, the corrugations have. an important additional function, in providing a non-refllable unit. It is obvious that, if the tie bar K, is made self-locking, n. y., as shown in Figs. 8 and 11, it would be impossible to loosen it and remove the eggs, and it would, consequently, be necessary to bend up each individual tongue and remove the eggs separately. Manifestly, however, when bending up the tongues, it is necessary to break, or, at least,

greatly disgure, the rorrufrations, thus rendering the clamping member unfit for further use.

Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate another embodiment of the invention, the latter figure showing a part of one of the clamping members O, in side elevation, and the ormer ligure showing a'number of these sections assembled and held in such positionl by a plurality of tie bars P. As clearly shown, each of these sections O is stamped from sheet metal, paper, fiber, or the like, and is transversely slotted between each pair of egg seats o' as at o', a little over a third of its width and from each longitudinal edge. This slottng of the clamping sections Venhances the resiliency thereof, allows :for the accommodation of the varying sizes of eggs,l and; if self-locking tie bars such as the bar P, aire employed, permits the Aeggs t0 be removed separately, as in the construction illustrated in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. Moreover, if it is desired to make the carrier non-refillable, the sertious may be corrugated as in said modified form of Figs. 6, 7 ad 8.

'lhe blanks, from which' these sections O are made, me suliciently wide to allow their lateral edges to be formed into interlocking male and female flanges q, g', respectively, whereby a plurality of these sections may be practical embodiment of a date any desired number of eggs, and then secured together and placed under pressure by the tie bars I. l

In Figs. El, 9 and 1l, I have illustrated one self-locking tie bar adapted to be used in connection with my invention. The head p, and its shank p', of this bar P, may be stamped from sheet metal, liber, or thef like, and is provided for a portion of its leneth with notches p, along its edges. A secur ng member R, which may be also stannied from like material, em-

. bodies, liffnrativelv s )eakin r a ta ered s )lit r; l il sleeve i', having a retaining flange r', around its large end. 'lhis securing member may, by virtue of the slit r2 therein, be forced over the shank of the tie bar, it being;r manifest that, when the smaller end of the sleeve comes into juxtaposition with the notches p, said sleeve will spring shut, thus prrcluding the withdrawal ed the securing member.

In Fig. a further modification of the invention is shown. In this figure, a nurnber of tongues stamped from the clamping plate S, each tongue being provided with an egg seat s'. lt will be understood that a unit of this embodiment embodies two complementary plates. which are clamped together by a tie bar S', as will be readily understood. The tongues, above referred to, being quite resilient, compensate for the ifarying sizes of different eggs. lioreoveigif a. nolrrelillable unit is desired, the self-locking tie bar, illustrated in Fig. 11 of the drawings, may be it will be impossible to remove the eggs from the unit without bending up the tongues s, indicated by the dotted lines s?. This bending up of the tongues will take away their resiliency and render the unit value less for further use.

Figs 13 and ll illustrato a construction very well adapted for the. carrying of different size eggs. This construction embodies a pair of clamping yplates T, T', which may be clamped to, .-rether` and retained under pressure by any tie bar t, hereinbefore de scribed. Said plates are positely positioned egg seats t', the crowns of which form, to provide an egg seat embodying a series of' resilient tongues adapted to engage the egg near the end thereof. It will thus be obvious that. when different size eggs are placed in the shane unit. and pressure apu plied through the tie bar t, the resiliency of the tongues t Vwill allow the large eg s to extend farther into their seats than tie smaller eggs, ll as clearly shown in Fig. 1.4. lonsequently; the clamping plates T, T', will be always in parallel relation, and will readiy grip eggs of varying sitios, with equal etiiciency. 1 d

It will be understood that, while I have employed, in which case,

provided with opare out out, preferably in star,

` of substantially what l claim asV shown several embodiments of the present invention, and while each embodiment'may have its distinctive feature or features, I do not' wish to be understood as limiting these features to the specific embodiment in which they happen to be shown, but that many are il'iterchangeable between the severalembodiments; e. g., it.will be obvious that the type of egg seat, shown in Fig. 13, could be readily used in the ernbodiment of the invention shown in Fig. l2, and the egg seat with the closed crown, as shown in Fig. l., could be readily embodied `in the construction shown in Fig. 4, while almost any one of the egg seats shown might be employed in the construction illustrated in Fig, 9. I,

therefore, do not wish to be understood as limiting these specific features to the em bodiments in 'which they are shown.

In all the embodiments of the invention herein shown and described, it will be obvious that, sinro the pressure applied is positive, the eggs held sufiiciently tight to prerlude their disengagement from thein seats, under the most trying conditions. Consequently, it -is immaterial on which side the container is set down, as 'the eggs cannot work or jar loose, and, at the same time, is inherent in the Con struction and material employed to preclude any fear of breakage.

Having thus full y described the invention,

' new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. An. egg carrier en'ibodying a plurality of substantially rigid egg gripping sheets positioned one over the other, said sheets having direct frietional engagement with rows of eggs at the extreme ends thereof, and means whereby said gripping sheets vare movable relatively to each other for securing pressure upon the extreme ends of the eggs.V

.An egg carriei1 embodying a plurality rigid egg ripping sheets positioned one above the ot er, said sheets having direct frictional engagement with rows of eggs at the extreme ends thereof, and means whereby said gripping sheets are mflved relatively to each other and thereby brought forcibly into Contact with all the eggs as to apply pressure upon the extreme ends of the eggs `through the medium of the sheets themselves, the line of direction of such pressure being lengthwise of the eggs.

3. An egg carrier embodying a plurality of substantially rigid egg gripping sheets positioned one above the other, said sheets having depressions integral therewith and positioned for direct frictional engagement with rows of eggs at the extreme ends there` of. and means for bodily moving the sheets so as to force the depressions thereof to ward the positioned between them, whereby positive pressure is applied to the eggs at the extreme ends thereof through the medium of the sheets themselves, the line of such pressure being in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the eg s.

An egg carrier embodying substantially rigid plates having rows of ockets inte rul therewith and positioned or direct .rictional contact with rows of eggs at the respective end portions thereof, und means for bodily moving said lates so us to forcibly engage with the end portions of the eggs whereby ressiire is applied vupon the er` treme en s of the eggs and in thc direction of their longitudinal axes.

An egg carrier embodying snbstuniiully rigid gripping plates having rows of pockets integral therewith and positioned for direct frictiona'l enga ment with the eggs nt their ends, and tie ars connected to said gripping plates for forcibly up lying pressure upon the extremeends of t e eggs by the Contact therewithof said pockets.

6. In an egg carrier, the combination of ir plurality of substantially rigid plates provided with tongues forming seats integral with said plates and positioned for direct frictional Contact with the eggs, and means for forcibly applying pressure to said plates whereby' pressure is exerted upon the eX- treme ends of the eggs through said tongues of the members.

. In im article carrier, the combinution vof a plurality of substantially' rigid gripping plntes positioned in opposing relation for receiving rows oi" :articles to be gripped between them, seid pkiites being provided in their opposing 'faces with. rows of seats for direct frictional contact with the respective end portions of said articles, and pressure means coperating with said plates for effooting relative movement between them so that the' seats of the plates will apply pressure to the extreme end portions of the articles, the direction of the pressure so applied being lengthwise of the articles gripped between the plates.

8. An article carrier embodying a plural` ity of substantially rigid members provided with means for nesting them relatively to cach other, said members being positioned in opposing relation to euch other and provided in their opposing faces with rows ol sents for direct fiictionul engagement with the respective ond portions of the articles adapted to be positioned between su: l incinbers, und means for applying pressureI to the members so that pressure will be applic-l through the scat portions thereof to the extreme end portions of the articles retained between the members, the direction of pressure so applied being lengthwise of the urticles positioned intermediate said members.

9. A. shipping case for eggs comprising n rigid retaining ineens for the eggs, and means for securing pressure upon the ex treme ends of the eggs for the purposes set forth.

10. A shipping casn for eggs comprising a rigid retaining means for the eggs, and means for securing pressure upon the eX- treme ends of the eggs for the purposes set forth, the pressure eing applied in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the eggs.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

FERDINAND KRONENBERGER.

Witnesses:

M. C. RODRIGUEZ, CORNELIUS ZABnIsKIn 

